Fantastic! Cheerful! Enjoyment!

[helikps]

I just ordered my 500 ESP from Performance Plus!!! I've been flying a Blade SR for the past couple of months and am getting pretty good in the sim. I'm can't wait to get my heli built and in the air!

[lazor 22]

So many people getting better helis!! Makes me jealous!

[nuclearchip]

Originally Posted by helikps

I just ordered my 500 ESP from Performance Plus!!! I've been flying a Blade SR for the past couple of months and am getting pretty good in the sim. I'm can't wait to get my heli built and in the air!

Welcome to the SR / 500ESP crowd. There are 3 or 4 of us now in here,,, I'm sure there are more but we have our own club here.

[Joseph T.]

So maybe this is the place to ask this question.........

I also want to join the 500 size heli club and went into my LHS and told them what I wanted. I basically told them that i need the whole setup, TX, receiver, servos, kit, battery w/charger.

They told me that basically cause i have nothing, that they could get me some kind of TREX super bundle that comes with servos , gyro , and motor w/the torque tube setup. DX6I and venom charger w/battery for $1500 USD

I thought that sounded a little high, what do you guys think?

[SYMAWD]

Here is everything you need. It comes to $1195.95 plus whatever your sales tax is.

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ID=AGNKX017011

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=SPM6600

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...D=THP22506SP45

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=DYN4066

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ID=AGNK10390A1

[scoti333]

I'm planning on buying one of these as well, or maybe a 450. Is the belt or torque tube design better? I have only a few months experience and would like to know which design is better and why for when the time comes. Also how much bigger is the 500 vs the 450? Thanks

[Slider]

How bout a clone from HK with some Trex parts and your choice of electronics?
DX7 ,, bet thats around 900 bucks with a couple of packs to boot!
And thats for a 600!

[Joseph T.]

SYMAWD, Is that really what batterys cost for the 500! Damn i didn't think they cost that much. Thanks for pulling up all them links, i really wanted to give my LHS the business but saving 400 bucks sounds like the way to go!

[nuke]

Originally Posted by helikps

I just ordered my 500 ESP from Performance Plus!!! I've been flying a Blade SR for the past couple of months and am getting pretty good in the sim. I'm can't wait to get my heli built and in the air!

Dude, you are going to LOVE that 500esp. It's so easy to build, plus you are going to learn just about everything you need to know about setting up a heli. The video's on here make it a snap. I finally got mine in the air today, and WOW. It's almost scary how much power it has, but it's ROCK solid in the air.

Joseph, it isn't that expensive. You can get the 500esp kit, which comes with servos, tail servo, and the gp780 gyro which ROCKS! All you need to get along with it, a transmitter (199 with receiver) (dx6i is what I got), batteries, 45ish a piece. That's really it, but I got a nice icharger so I can charge at 6amps, so it charges in like 25 min. I also got a power supply with it as well, to power it. Charger was 115 and power supply was 50ish. I bought the esp kit, 4 batteries, the icharger, power supply all for around 950.

[nuke]

Originally Posted by scoti333

I'm planning on buying one of these as well, or maybe a 450. Is the belt or torque tube design better? I have only a few months experience and would like to know which design is better and why for when the time comes. Also how much bigger is the 500 vs the 450? Thanks

The 500 is a LOT bigger than the 450. You wouldn't think it from the number 450 to 500, but it's a whole new animal. The 450 takes 3 cell 2200 batteries, and I use 6 cell 3000 mah. It's a lot bigger and more stable than the 450. My roommate has one. It's still a great heli though. Torque tube is a better design, but when you wreck, chances are the torque tube gears are toast. Solution, don't crash. lol, but with the belts, they can build up static charges, and cause a brown out where you lose connection with the receiver. I attached a pic of the two so you can see the size difference.

[nuke]

Here is a list of everything...

Heli
http://www.performanceplusrc.com/ser...500-ESP/Detail
Kirk will give you a 5% discount, so total is 578 including shipping.

http://www.rcplanet.com/ProductDetai...M66001&click=3
Transmitter ..I think this model comes with receiver, couldn't see it listed though, but it's 199.

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...idProduct=7523
Charger...I almost got this model, but they were sold out, but it will charge at 6amps, so you can charge at 2C. 42.44

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...idProduct=9489
Battery 3000mah 6cell 49.99

http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...ers_%28350W%29
Power supply 49.99

Total is 918.43. If you already have a decent charger, you can prob use it, but won't charge at 2C....depending on what you have. That would save you 100.

[scoti333]

Wow.. Big difference in size. Thanks alot for the info!

[jaffo24]

yeah thats kind of shocking how much bigger the 500 is over the 450.

[EvilSmirk]

Originally Posted by scoti333

I'm planning on buying one of these as well, or maybe a 450. Is the belt or torque tube design better? I have only a few months experience and would like to know which design is better and why for when the time comes. Also how much bigger is the 500 vs the 450? Thanks

I'd recommend the 500 ESP, which comes with a Torque Tube, but get a belt conversion for it and set it up with the belt from the get go. Once you are comfortable with it, switch over to the Torque Tube. You'll probably be happier with the TT, but until you can avoid landing without tail impact, the belt will save you some repairs.

It's been mentioned someone has modded their TT with a bit of a slip clutch to prevent any sort of gear stripping in the event of a mild tail impact, but I can't remember where or who. Perhaps you can find it in the 500 forum.

[lazor 22]

Don't buy a battery from HK. Hong Kong doesn't allow Airmail of LiPo's anymore so it would take a LONG time to get to you.

http://www.rcmodelreviews.com/hkpost_bans_lipos.shtml

But, they are cheap, so....

[nuke]

Originally Posted by EvilSmirk

I'd recommend the 500 ESP, which comes with a Torque Tube, but get a belt conversion for it and set it up with the belt from the get go. Once you are comfortable with it, switch over to the Torque Tube. You'll probably be happier with the TT, but until you can avoid landing without tail impact, the belt will save you some repairs.

It's been mentioned someone has modded their TT with a bit of a slip clutch to prevent any sort of gear stripping in the event of a mild tail impact, but I can't remember where or who. Perhaps you can find it in the 500 forum.

Well, I have a little story about the sturdiness of the TT. Somehow, yesterday, when flying, my pitch got reversed on my dx6i. Not sure how it happened, but when I was taking off, it had positive pitch, but not enough head speed, but when I went higher on the stick, it was getting negative pitch, but higher head speed. I knew something was going on, so I moved the stick all the way down, to see what's going on. Well, it moved back into positive pitch, so the heli jumped like 10 feet in the air!!! I tried to put power back into it, but it fell from 10 feet straight on the concrete landing on the skids and tail rotor. Slightly chipped the tail rotor, but it did land pretty hard on the tail fin, but NO DAMAGE. I thought for sure the TT was toast, but it held up just fine. Talk about scary as hell though. I almost jumped in to catch it, but thought against it, as those blades are scary fast and the sound is enough to make you crap your pants.

[hueman09]

Originally Posted by nuke

but with the belts, they can build up static charges, and cause a brown out where you lose connection with the receiver.

While this is true it is mostly on the plastic kits. Plastic is NOT a conductor and as such can not dissipate static build up. The "metal" kits have a metal tail, metal boom attached to a metal boom block. Much has been written on the subject and there are a number of ways to measure this static, however one forgets that the blades going through the air create static as well. Not to be argumentative just pointing out what I feel are some "urban legends". I think the current "fix" for excessive static build up is to frequently apply tri-flow lube to the belt . The TT tail produces a fair amount of static as well...nylon gears meshing but have not seen any threads where it is being measured.

[jaffo24]

hueman has is everything going with the 450? im so close to pulling the trigger to get one..

[helikps]

Originally Posted by Slider

How bout a clone from HK with some Trex parts and your choice of electronics?
DX7 ,, bet thats around 900 bucks with a couple of packs to boot!
And thats for a 600!

I looked at a few of the clones but decided against it because I've never built a kit and I've heard that clone kits are really for people experienced enough to know what needs adjustment/tweaking/upgraded align parts. I'm not experienced enough to know what my choice in electronics would be. While align electronics are not the best I've read they're good enough for hovering, sport flying and even mild to intermediate 3D.

Clone kits are really not any cheaper when you factor in the electronics included in the Align combos. In fact, adding up the individual costs of the Align electronics (servos, gyro, ESC) and you'll come to a number around $550. That means the name-brand Align kit is almost free (around $50) when ordering from Kirk. When considering the quality of Align kits, the excellent instructions, and the fact that my local club is almost entirely Align, it was a no-brainer for my situation.

[helikps]

Originally Posted by nuclearchip

Welcome to the SR / 500ESP crowd. There are 3 or 4 of us now in here,,, I'm sure there are more but we have our own club here.

The Blade SR Survivors Group - maybe we need a sub-forum!